


Things that are never actually shown or mentioned in Beetlejuice (1988)

by Louise_1



Category: Beetlejuice (1988)
Genre: Analysis, Commentary, Meta, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-08
Updated: 2021-01-08
Packaged: 2021-03-12 10:41:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28634166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Louise_1/pseuds/Louise_1
Summary: Just some meta commentary.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	Things that are never actually shown or mentioned in Beetlejuice (1988)

**Tropes and features which have taken hold in fandom, but are not actually present in the film:**

Tentacles

The word “breather.“ There’s no argument about this. It’s completely a fanfiction/intrafandom invention.

The idea that Juno or the organization she works for are particularly powerful.

Lydia’s age. This is literally never mentioned.

Beetlejuice’s age in ordinary human years, or the idea that he’s middle-aged or old, or that the character is supposed to be older than the actor. (in literal physical years, not ghost-years.)

The idea that Lydia’s mother is dead or that this is the cause of her depression or that this is why she wears black.

The idea that Beetlejuice was hanged and/or committed suicide. I’m well aware of the arguments in favor of this, but my main objection is that there are no marks of hanging/strangulation on his neck and throat, and his neck and throat are displayed quite prominently in his first scene. I’m not saying that this is impossible or even improbable, just that it’s not openly and definitely established.

The idea that BJ intends to kill the Deetzes, or anyone else. How would that benefit him? It’s true that he says “Who do I have to kill?” in his first scene, but IMO everything in that scene is part of his salesman’s patter and meant to be taken with a grain of salt. It’s just stream-of-consciousness rambling. He’s clearly powerful enough to kill them, but he doesn’t. He arguably does no irreparable harm to anyone.

Beetlejuice never actually speaks Lydia’s name or calls her by name. He calls her nicknames like “babe” and “honey”, and refers to her jokingly as “Edgar Allan Poe’s daughter.”

The idea that Juno confined Beetlejuice to the Model Town or that he is confined to the Model Town as some type of prison sentence or punishment. She’s able to distract him with the whorehouse, but there’s no sign that she or anyone has any particular authority or influence over him, now that he’s no longer her assistant, and there’s no evidence that she’s some type of judge or ruler.

If she’s so powerful, why doesn’t she get rid of the Deetzes herself, instead of urging the Maitlands to do it? If she has control over BJ, why doesn’t she do something more decisive about it, and prevent him from getting involved in the Maitland-Deetz conflict?

(Sylvia Sidney had a very long career as an actress, and she won an award for this role. Her final role was in Burton’s "Mars Attacks.” I think it’s especially shitty and not at all coincidental that the characters who were changed most drastically for the Musical have actors who aren’t around to comment.)

The simplest explanation is that he can’t leave for the same reason the Maitlands can’t: there’s nothing outside but Saturn and sandworms.

Juno says BJ is a troublemaker. This could mean anything from “he destroyed whole universes” to “he put a tack on her chair.” There’s no information at all, as to what he did or didn’t do, or that a specific action led to his current situation.

The idea that Beetlejuice is 600 years old. He implies that it’s been 600 years since he last had sex, but that seems unlikely, unless he was in some type of dormant state or suspended animation, in his coffin. There have been several different occurrences of the Black Plague, and the most well-known one was in the 14th century, which would indeed be 600 years before the 20th century. But he could be BS-ing about all of this. Again, I’m not saying this is wrong or unlikely, just that it’s not *certain.*

The idea that Beetlejuice will become alive again or be able to re-enter the Living world by marrying Lydia.

The idea that after successfully marrying Lydia, he will wreak havoc on the Living world. The only thing he divulges is that he wants to “get out”, which seems to quite literally mean that he wants to get out of the house and the Model Town.

Indeed, there’s zero indication of what he plans to do after the wedding, including whether he considers this a real relationship or just a means to an end. (I personally think he’d give her a big raunchy kiss and then disappear. I’m not a shipper. I’m neither for nor against any ships. I could write a whole bunch about this, but I don’t want to upset shippers. I think he likes her, but not as much as he likes his own freedom and independence. YMMV. )

“Only Lydia can summon BJ.” That’s the cartoon, along with BJ using the mirror as a portal, and the word Neitherworld/Netherworld.

The idea that ghosts have cold skin or bring coldness to their environment. Obviously this is very common in folklore, but it’s never firmly established in this universe. Early in the movie, Barbara states that she feels very cold, but this is understandable because she and Adam were *in the river.*

A lot of ideas about BJ’s physical traits, like a long striped tongue, actually come from the cartoon, or they’re just part of Burton’s general aesthetic and not specifically connected with Beetlejuice. There’s a lot of tentacle-ish stuff in Burton’s visual style, but IIRC there are no literal Japanese-style octopus/squid tentacles, in this film. In the scene where his face explodes (Ya like it?), that stuff looks more like a crab’s legs or an insect’s legs, an arthropod.

I’m not saying that any of these things are impossible or that it’s not okay to headcanon them, I’m simply saying that they’re not clearly and firmly established, beyond a doubt.

IMO this is a trippy, near-plotless fever dream of a movie in which almost nothing is meant to be taken literally, and the harder you try to make sense of it, the less sense it will make. Burton is about visuals, not plot or character development. You have to just let it wash over you. I mean, can you even imagine trying to explain this movie’s plot to someone, if they were totally unfamiliar with it? It’s wild.

Bonus round:

Beetlejuice isn’t particularly tall, and Lydia isn’t particularly short. They’re both average. BJ doesn’t need physical strength, he has magical strength. This is in regards to people going on about “size difference kink.” If you’re into big burly men, this is an odd choice of fandom. He’s shorter than Adam *and* Barbara.

BJ spends most of his screentime being mini-sized in the Model Town, which makes Lydia and anyone else seem like a giant. If there’s any “size difference kink” to be had in this story, it’s “larger woman, smaller man”, not vice versa.

Lydia/Winona isn’t particularly curvy, then or now, so I have *no idea* why some shippers are fixated on the topic of big boobs. That’s rather objectifying, and it implies that only women with an hourglass figure can be beautiful or sexy. (Or that only people who are beautiful and sexy can experience romance or be an appealing protagonist.) If someone expresses doubts about this ship, and your response is to blather about big boobs, you’re not going to win any converts. Lydia/Winona is indeed very beautiful, then and now, but she’s not shaped like Mae West and I don’t know where this stuff is coming from.

The Maitlands aren’t bland, boring, and prudish. That is how the other characters unfairly perceive them. They’re rather traditionalist when compared to the Deetzes and their entourage, but that is supposed to reflect negatively on the Deetzes, not on them. The Maitlands are creative and fun-loving. They built the Model Town, they like music and travel and they’re clearly passionate about each other. They’re the main characters of this story, while BJ and Lydia are catalysts. It’s not Lydia who ultimately defeats Beetlejuice, it’s Barbara. By the end of the movie, both Adam and Barbara prove themselves to be brave and resourceful. The other characters underestimate them. This movie was made in the ‘80s, and to some extent it’s a satire about materialism and classism.

Betelguese isn’t unintelligent. Cartoon Juice kind of is, which is one of many reasons why I’m not crazy about the cartoon anymore.

That being said, I like Betelguese _the character_ a whole lot more than I like Beetlejuice _the movie_ , and I think that’s true of most people, which is why it’s so tantalizing that he has so little screentime and we know almost nothing about him. The movie can get a bit tedious, on repeat viewings.


End file.
